Various spare tire carriers have been utilized in the past and are well known in the art. Typically, spare tire carriers are designed to hold a spare wheel below the body frame of a vehicle. Generally, the spare tire carrier includes a cable associated with a winch or drive mechanism to raise and lower the tire when needed. Various U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,059,197; 4,535,973; 4,600,352; 4,625,947; 5,251,877; 5,265,708 and 5,415,377 are related to spare tire carrier designs.
However, none of these prior art designs teach or suggest a spare tire carrier having overload protection with a controlled cable payout. Specifically, there is a need in the art for a spare tire carrier wherein a cable is released allowing the tire to separate from the tire carrier mechanism at a predetermined load; thereby allowing the cable to unwind from a spool such that the cable is prevented from being exposed to high loading forces. Additionally, there is a need in the art for a controlled cable payout in which the rate of the release of the cable can be controlled to avoid a rapid uncontrolled movement of a spare tire